Morningside Report and Summary Here - KiwiRail

Design and Construction of Crossing
What do the codes and standards require in terms of design and
construction of pedestrian crossings?
There are a number of designs used by KiwiRail for level crossings which involve different
construction techniques. These include rubber level crossing systems, pre- fabricated
concrete slabs, asphalt without runners and asphalt with runners.
In some cases specific pedestrian design plans were available, but for asphalt crossings,
road crossing designs were used. For asphalt crossings two design plans were available,
one for asphalt road crossings without wooden runners and one with wooden runners.
For level crossings constructed using asphalt with wooden runners, the wooden runners
were inserted parallel to the outer edge of each rail. The purpose of this was to deflect road
vehicles from impacting on the head of the rail as they passed over.
In crossings of this type, the field gap between the runner and the rail in the design was
75mm wide and was required to be completely filled with asphalt. The design also included a
75mm flange gap between the inside of each rail and the adjacent runner. The flange gap
was necessary so that the wheel flanges of rail vehicles could pass without striking the
crossing surface. The depth of the flange gaps for the type of crossing used at Morningside
Drive varied from 30mm to 37mm, depending on the size of the rail so that even with wear,
the depth could not exceed 50mm if the crossing was built to plan. The floor of the gaps
required 120mm of asphalt fill down to the supporting sleeper and fastenings.
Designs existed for level crossings using the rubber level crossing systems. Where these
were to be used, the Track Engineering Office in Wellington was required to be involved and
arranged for specifications of the level crossing to be sent to the manufacturer who designed
and submitted a drawing specification for the crossing for approval prior to supply of the
rubber panels. In these cases the design drawing was specific to the particular level
crossing they were being designed for. The rubber panels came in lengths of 600mm up to a
maximum of 1800mm. The design flange gap for rubber level crossings was 70mm wide
and 50mm deep.
Examples of these crossings had been installed in the Wellington Metro area.
A prefabricated concrete panel design was also available and there were several examples
of these in the Auckland Metro area. These designs did not make provision for the filling of
the flange gaps which are consequently full depth.
Construction of the Morningside Crossing
The Morningside Drive pedestrian crossing had originally been part of the vehicle level
crossing.
In 2011 prior to the Rugby World Cup and during the Auckland Rail Network preparation
stage leading up to the Cup, the existing Morningside pedestrian crossing layout was
considered to be inadequate for large crowd access / egress. It was decided that it be
upgraded, including the maze layout, to provide more flexibility. Part of that upgrading
included the separation of the pedestrian crossings from the vehicle level crossing. The
crossings were installed over the weekend of 5, 6 and 7 June 2011.
The Morningside pedestrian crossing was constructed using the asphalt and runner road
crossing design.
Alternatives of using either rubber panels or concrete slab inserts were considered.
Concrete slabs were considered unsuitable because of the angle of this pedestrian crossing
to the track (67 degrees) which meant that the three panels required for each of the six
Report on Collision Train 126 with Power Wheelchair, Morningside, 25 February 2013 Page 10